Sign the Petition to

Department for Environment - Food and Rural Affairs, Secretary of State for Scotland, and the Secretary of State for Wales

We the undersigned, Demand that neonicotinoid insecticides products be withdrawn from general sale in UK supermarkets, hardware stores, garden centres and farm supply stores according to the Bees Act 1980. Anything that contains acetamiprid, imidacloprid, thiacloprid or thiamethoxam must be banned.

Neonicotinoid is a widely used farm pesticide first introduced in the 1990s that has caused significant changes to bee colonies and removing it could be the key factor in restoring nature's army of pollinators, according to two studies released in March.*

Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. Neonicotinoid imidacloprid is currently the most widely used insecticide in the world.* The use of some members of this class has been restricted in some countries due to evidence of a connection to honey-bee colony collapse disorder. The pesticide works as a neurotoxin by interfering with the transmission of stimuli in the insect nervous system.*

How this will help

Healthy bee populations are essential to the production of food. Floral nectars and aromas attract bees and thus ensure adequate pollination and the reproductive success of the plant. The honey bee's most significant contribution to human dietary habits has been these pollination activities. Without honey bees human tables and lives would be impoverished by a general lack of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other bee-pollinated plant products.* Bees pollinate some of our favorite foods: Apples, oranges, lemons, broccoli, onions, blueberries, cherries, avocados and much more.

Products containing neonicotinoid insecticides have been linked to large-scale deaths and Colony Collapse Disorder of bees and other pollinators. Sign the petition to put pressure on UK regulatory agencies to ban the use of these insecticides and to protect our bees..